Scott Snyder & Jeff Lemire's A.D.: After Death, Books One & Two

I am quite fond of both Snyder and Lemire. American Vampire was the first series I followed through Comixology. And Essex County is still one of my favorite books--and one of my go-to recommendations when I'm trying to think of a can't miss comic book for a neophyte. And though I don't know much more about Snyder than his work on American Vampire, I have followed Jeff Lemire through quite a few of his works: Lost Dogs, The Underwater Welder, The Nobody, Sweet Tooth (one of my favorite comics ever), Trillium . . . and I've even sampled quite a few of his (mostly not good) mainstream books for DC and Marvel. 

So I was looking forward to checking out A.D.: After Death Volume 1. Until I saw the price tag: $5.99. I rarely spend that much on a comic book these days. But I thought I'd have a look at it on my weekly trip to The Great Escape. And one look is all that it took for me to start re-thinking my decision not to buy. For one thing, it has a wonderful cover. It's not paper, but it doesn't feel like cardboard, either. It actually feels kind of cloth-y. Very nice. And the paper inside is high quality stock. The story itself is part illustrated text, part comic book, which is kind of cool. And the size of the book is larger than a typical comic book, so that art is even more impressive. And the colors . . . very rich. If you like Lemire's art, this is definitely a step up from his previous work. I was still put off by the price tag, but I decided to go for it.

And when my purchase was rung up . . . surprise! There was a 25% off sale this weekend, so I got an even better deal. And the I started looking forward to Book Two . . . and didn't even mind that I'd be paying full price.

Well, I bought Book Two when it came out a couple of weeks ago, but I just now finished reading it. This is a book that actually takes some time to read . . . And some concentration, too. I'll admit that I will have to read it through again to really understand the story, but I'm looking forward to that. I think ill wait until I have the third (and last) issue in my hands before I do that re-read so I can fully enjoy that final issue, so I guess I'd better block out three hours or so.